Pre-Match Report
Kovac aims to capitalize on the start of the season
The scenario
BVB can look back on a satisfying stretch. Their well-deserved 2-0 victory over Hamburger SV to kick off the Bundesliga season was followed on Tuesday evening by a commanding 5-0 win in the DFB Cup against HEBC. However, a major setback was the serious knee injury (torn cruciate ligament) suffered by new signing Giannis Konstantelias in his first Bundesliga match.
This Saturday, the team’s first away game of the 2026–27 Bundesliga season is on the schedule, which will take the Black and Yellows to the Kraichgau region. TSG Hoffenheim suffered a bitter 2–3 loss to 1. FC Köln in their season opener. Head coach Christian Ilzer’s team took the lead twice in Cologne but still came away empty-handed after 90 minutes. While BVB can cap off its season opener with its third consecutive shutout victory, Hoffenheim is looking to avoid a complete false start to the new season.
BVB coach Kovac emphasized the importance of the match in Sinsheim ahead of the game: “The start of a season is always very important; you have to get rolling. That applies to all teams, and of course to us as well. We’re heading to Sinsheim to win the game.”
Squad
With Giannis Konstantelias, Emre Can (both recovering from ACL tears), and Nico Schlotterbeck (ankle), three long-term absentees are not in Borussia’s roster. Schlotterbeck, at least, returned to the training field this week.
Otherwise, Niko Kovac reported that three other players recovering from injuries have recently made significant progress and have at least partially resumed training with the team. In addition to the two 17-year-old young pros, Mussa Kaba and Enzo Dos Santos, this also applies to Ramy Bensebaini, who had been sidelined for about two weeks with bruised ribs.
Meanwhile, Kovac held out the prospect of a competitive debut for new signing Ethan Nwaneri. “He’s a fit player who, in theory—and perhaps in practice as well—could play right away. He has very good technical skills; we’ve already seen that in training. I’m very satisfied,” the BVB coach reported, noting the young Brit’s strong first impressions.
Opponent
TSG Hoffenheim had its best season in eight years in 2025/2026 and secured a return to European competition. Hoffenheim also came out on top in its last matchup against Borussia Dortmund, winning 2-1 in April thanks to a penalty kick by TSG’s all-time leading scorer, Andrej Kramaric, in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
BVB head coach Niko Kovac is determined to avenge the loss from five months ago, but at the same time warns of the opponent’s strength and expressly praised the work of fellow coach Christian Ilzer: “You can see how important it is to give someone the time to implement certain things—to have one, or even several, transfer windows to make changes and adjustments. The style of soccer played in Hoffenheim is very intense, very aggressive, and very direct.”
The 54-year-old described Hoffenheim as “a team that can cover a lot of ground and defends aggressively.” Although TSG lost the first match in Cologne, one thing is certain for Kovac: “Games against Hoffenheim are always close; it comes down to the little things and who can impose their style of play more effectively than the opponent. I hope that’s us. After our strong start against HSV, we’ve got the momentum on our side, and we want to capitalize on that.”
A 0-0 draw is virtually out of the question
Borussia Dortmund and Hoffenheim have now faced each other 39 times in the DFB Cup and the Bundesliga. The match ended scoreless only once—during Hoffenheim’s very first Bundesliga away game at BVB in February 2009. Back then, Jürgen Klopp and Ralf Rangnick faced off as head coaches; Dortmund’s roster included Roman Weidenfeller, Patrick Owomoyela, and a certain Dédé, among others.
Mats-Yannick Roth